


To the Grave After-Story: Lawrence & Phoenix

by DarkCh1ld



Series: To the Grave [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-25 12:16:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkCh1ld/pseuds/DarkCh1ld





	1. Chapter 1

Phoenix had accepted the loss of his powers quite easily.

It was to be expected—the numerous amounts of times he’d broken inside from his powers’ effect on his psyche were enough to cause him to attack his comrades. For his part, Lawrence just observed. He hadn’t seen Phoenix really experience the world, fear of creating close bonds keeping the redhead from sharing anything with anyone but Lawrence himself.

Now, though, Phoenix was taking life by the horns. He’d gotten back into the rest of the team’s good graces, and was more of a parental figure to them all than Lawrence ever thought he could be. The outside world was taboo no longer, and he frequently went out and played with Nilde in the garden Emile cultivated just for her. He also taught her how to play the baby grand piano in her personal music room—Emile spoiled the child as compensation for her unfortunate fate at such a young age. However, most of his time was spent talking with Lawrence about everything under the sun: his past, his thoughts as time went on, and his feelings regarding his actions.

And speaking of feelings…the more Lawrence watched Phoenix, the more he realized Phoenix was actually _living_. He smiled and laughed more than Lawrence thought possible, and he was close enough to the others to tend to them when they were sick or injured with words of praise for their successful missions and condolences in the rare occasion that they failed. They were closer as well, having shared Lawrence’s room for the past month now.

Lawrence knew what he was like, knew that when he fell, he fell _hard_ —and that was exactly what he was doing now. The sheer magnitude of emotions roiling through him every time he looked at the happy redhead’s face made him lose sense of the world around him. Many times he caught the man staring at him as well with a strange sort of longing look in his eyes.

It gave him hope that just maybe, just maybe…he had a chance.


	2. Chapter 2

_There’s not much I can do about this, is there?_

Phoenix thought as he woke from an afternoon nap—one of the good things about not being in the field was that he actually had time to _rest_ —to the sight of Lawrence just coming in from the shower.

There was a towel draped over his shoulders, catching the water dripping from his loose brown hair. A towel was also loosely wrapped around his waist, hanging slightly off of his surprisingly slender hips.

Phoenix’s eyes drifted down and then back up, freezing on the dark pink lines decorating Lawrence’s back and arms. He still couldn’t stand to see the healing wounds without remembering that _he_ was the one who caused them, no matter how Lawrence tried to console him. The thought was sobering enough to snap him out of his stupor, just in time to catch the gaze of eyes more green than hazel at the moment.

Phoenix was under the firm belief that Lawrence’s eyes should be studied, because they held more knowledge and wisdom than anyone Phoenix had ever met, old or young.

“Nix? Something wrong?”

Phoenix nodded, throwing back the covers and getting out of bed.

Lawrence frowned for a moment, but then shrugged and rifled through his drawer for some clothes to wear that day. He heard the redhead whisper something in a language he was sure wasn’t English, but ignored it.

Pulling a plain white t-shirt over his head, he dropped the towel and slid on a pair of boxers, slipping on some loose black sweats as well. The entire time, he felt those luminescent golden eyes watching him, namely his back.

He knew about Phoenix’s guilt over his scars and he knew nothing he said would prove to the man that he’d been forgiven already.

“I’m gonna go out for a quick run. Tell the others that if they need me they can call my cell,” he said as he passed the redhead on his way out of the room. He heard a murmured consent, closing the door as he left and heading out. Once he got outside, he leant down and pulled up his right pant leg, rubbing a finger over a scar stretching across nearly his entire calf.

The one thing he would never tell his best friend was that his most severe injuries weren’t the burns or the stitched-up scars, but the multiple fractures and clean breaks throughout his lower leg.

Nobody would ever know except Emile and himself.


	3. Chapter 3

When Lawrence returned, it was to the sight of Julia and Kyougo in one of their usual disputes in the middle of the living room. Nilde and Lukas were nowhere to be seen—probably at the piano. The others merely watched, except for Anastasie; she ignored the bickering with practiced detachment, leaning sideways to look around them at the cartoon on the TV.

Sighing, Lawrence realized he'd have to step in for the hundredth time. He grabbed the back of the arguing duo's shirts and yanked them away from each other, leveling a stern glare on them both, "I really don't want my off day ruined. Separate yourselves or I'll do it for you."

The teens complied willingly, slinking off sheepishly to God-knew-where. Soft clapping drew his attention to the other four, who'd simply watched him defuse the situation.

Phoenix grinned, "Another crisis diverted, oh great leader."

Lawrence raised a brow at the praise, huffing irritably. "You couldn't do something about that before I got back? I really do hate dealing with them when they act like children."

The redhead shrugged nonchalantly.

"They listen to you more. Hungry? I made lunch," he said, changing the subject.

Lawrence's stomach rumbled then and he chuckled, all pretenses of anger gone. "Sure. Madison, get Nilde and Lukas. Ana, find Kyougo and Julia, please? We're eating together today. Salvatore, Sebastian, set the table."

They all rose to do as told, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

Phoenix watched with barely-concealed amazement, a strangely wistful little smile twisting his lips, "Tá tú chomh maith leo. Tá mé éad."

He'd said the words almost inaudibly, but Lawrence heard anyway. He frowned, turning to the redhead. "What'd you say? I've never heard you speak Irish before."

Phoenix blinked in shock, visibly distressed.

"It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

The redhead hurried into the kitchen, leaving Lawrence uncomfortably confused. He was still thinking about it later that day, lounging on the couch with his earbuds in.

_Why would he be hesitant to say he speaks other languages? It's such a small thing to be secretive about. Unless…he still doesn't trust us enough to tell us about himself._

That thought saddened him more than even his lack of memories of the first 16 years of his life. He frowned, chewing angrily on the inside of his cheek. So deep in thought was he that he never noticed or even sensed Nilde walking up to the side of the couch until she tapped his knee.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" he jumped, biting down painfully hard on his cheek in fright, "Ah, shit!"

Nilde just watched him curiously, her head cocked to one side and exotic eyes wide with worry.

"Sorry for the language, Nilde." He apologized immediately as he righted himself, patting the couch so she could sit.

The white-haired girl curled up in his lap instead, snuggling close and sighing, "It's okay; Kai curses all the time."

 _Oh, really? I'll have to talk to him about that._ "So what did you want to talk about, Nilde? You look preoccupied."

"Are you and Phoenix arguing?"

Lawrence frowned and leaned back to look at the young girl's face, "What? Why would you think that?"

Nilde shrugged halfheartedly, staring down at her lap. "You haven't talked since lunch, and even then he didn't really say much. I'm worried for him; what if he's still sad?" the girl whispered softly.


End file.
